Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below. This week’s blogtable was yesterday, but below is a special bonus Chris-Paul-just-got-traded-to-the-Clippers edition:

Now that CP3 is going to the Clippers, does that end justify David Stern’s means; nixing the deal to the Lakers last week? Did he do his job as caretaker of the Hornets, or did he stick his nose in where it didn’t belong?

Steve Aschburner: The league and commissioner David Stern “stuck their noses” where they didn’t belong the moment they bought back the Hornets from George Shinn. From that point, though, other than flipping the keys to Price Waterhouse to run in a blind trust, there was going to be meddling in the Hornets’ affairs — the same way owners meddle in GMs’ and coaches’ business all the time.

So I wasn’t surprised — and certainly wasn’t outraged, like some overly emotional souls in the media — by what Stern did in blocking the Lakers-Rockets deal. I liked that outcome on the court better for all involved but taking back fat contracts and guys in their 30s is no way to spiff up a jalopy of a franchise for a potential buyer. The Clippers package is better for that, for selling now and winning later. (Of course, Dell Demps could have parlayed Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Lamar Odom into younger assets too. Just maybe not by the time New Orleans was brought to market.)

Chris Paul didn’t get harmed; he was working on an extension that ran through 2012-13 with an opt-out, so as long as he got paid, the Hornets were honoring the deal. Paul didn’t have a right to be traded to the Lakers or anywhere else. Laker fans are in a tizzy but that’s because they’re spoiled by so much going their way through the years. (They never properly thanked Minneapolis for the franchise in the first place, if you ask me.)

Stern did right by the Hornets. His move had the collateral benefit of pleasing many of the league’s owners and fans, who would have gagged on a “have” franchise adding the NBA’s best pure point guard within days of a costly labor dispute staged in part to avoid that very outcome. The Clippers don’t seem “big market” because of their history and their knack for screwing up even promising beginnings. The league got a little more interesting and, well, if Stern and the other 29 aren’t nervous about New Orleans’ long-term viability, I won’t lose sleep over it either.

Fran Blinebury: No. It all started from the uncomfortable premise that the league has ownership of an individual franchise and could act as a forthright and honest broker. That led to G.M. Dell Demps being told that he had full authority to make deals, a message that clearly wasn’t true, but was disseminated throughout the league. No one told the Lakers or the Rockets or any other club interested in trading for Chris Paul that the league office would have to sign off on the deal. If Stern was going to intervene and run the show, it should have been before the N.O.-L.A.-Houston deal was agreed upon. When Stern trampled in after the fact, it undermined the league’s credibility, gave rise to suspicion that he was reacting to anti-big-market, anti-Lakers outcry from some team owners and, most important, did real damage to the Lakers and Rockets teams.

Yes, Stern ultimately got the Hornets a much better deal from the Clippers, but after a long, ugly and silly lockout, at a cost of the league’s credibility.

Scott Howard-Cooper: He did his job as caretaker of the Hornets — but not at caretaker of the NBA. In the end, it became exactly the conflict of interest Stern should have been able to see long ago as a potential perception problem for the league. If he had stayed out of sight and the initial trade had gone through, the uproar would have been how the league-owned team delivered Chris Paul to the Lakers. It would have been a fair deal negotiated according to the rules by the personnel departments of three teams, and it still would be created problems. Putting the Veto stamp on Lakers-Hornets-Rockets created another set of problems. The image of the league should not have been at risk in the first place. New Orleans ended up with as good a return as could be expected under the circumstances, and the commissioner ended up looking bad to a lot of people.

Shaun Powell: In the end, the Hornets got a better deal than before. That’s all that counts. They didn’t get Lamar Odom, who would’ve pouted all year, or a one-dimensional Kevin Martin, or Luis Scola‘s big contract (which is a crippler to a small-market team that’s up for sale). While the basketball world knee-jerked and screamed and said the NBA blew it because the Hornets would never get anything better, New Orleans did just that. They got one of the best young guards in basketball in Eric Gordon, an up-and-comer in Al-Farouq Aminu, trade bait in Chris Kaman and Minny’s unprotected No. 1 which will be gold in next summer’s draft. All assets and all (relatively) cheap. Of course, the bigger issue is the NBA being in a caretaker role. That must change, pronto, because this is a terrible conflict of interest for the league.

The best the NBA can do for the Hornets, other than the just-completed trade, is to put the franchise incapable hands and wash its own hands of being an owner/general manager. Sell this club to anyone except the second coming of George Shinn, who is a bigger villain in this situation than David Stern could ever be.

John Schuhmann: I really don’t know. On one hand, the Hornets got a better “rebuilding” deal, (the three-way trade was a better “win now” deal), and that might help the team get sold. On the other hand, a situation where the NBA office is negotiating trades is a great opportunity for conspiracy theorists to speculate about what the commissioner’s motives are. It also seems like Dell Demps wasted a lot of time working on deals, only to find out that he doesn’t really have the authority to do so. I’m just glad it’s over.

62 Comments

David Stern did what he had 2 do in the best interests of the NBA. Had he let CP3 2 LA Lakers then his agenda would b question of the new CBA. He made it an open court for the Clippers & small market franchise.

Win now?!!!!!! you think hornets would have won with kevin martin lo and scola?????? Laker fans need to stfu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! plus CP3 got the best out of this situation too!!!! i mean he got his team its stacked and he can win it now if his that GREAT!!!!!!!!! and stern had the right to veto the deal and he did the right thing cuz eric gordon is a much better player then Kevin martin Lamar odom and luis scola combined!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO CELTICS!!!!!!!!!!!!! we still got the best point gurd in the league btw! so glad they didnt trade rondo!

this trade definitely evened out the basketball scale in los angeles, but whats more important than the addition of chris paul alone are the other agents that the clips were able to add…ie caron butler and chauncey billups..we will see what happens

These Heat fans trip me out! They talk more about the Lakers than they do their own team! That’s because they are fake bandwagoners! And we are grateful for what we have! And I dont think we would be bragging before we really achieved anything either!

Scenario: Dell says : ” i got this awesome deal for paul, let’s do it” Stern Replies “…you’re trading Paul for 3 FAT contracts?” “ummm…no. Who’s going to buy with three players putting us in the red NONE of which are current all start calibur” Dell goes…”ugggh shucks Brain…never thought that one through.”

I hate Dave Stern but he saw that they were holding all the pieces and he was not about to let NO deal for the sake of making a deal. They recieved good solid pieces, with reasonable contracts.

LA fans… You are all sellouts. How’re you going to claim that they SCREWED you? I’ll give you a second to think about this…i think you’re stupid enough to not see where I am going with this….

How can you claim to support your home town team, and have “PRIDE” in your “TEAM’
LA Clippers have an MVP Candidate, a ROY Winner, both All stars and veterans galore…and you’re crying how this is “ANTI- LARGE MARKET”????
Chris Paul went to the same market as the Lakers. They even play in the same arena. So now you have two Star Packed teams with rosters. STOP CRYING. Honestly if PORTLANd beats either of your franchises with no ROY or Oden,,,I’ll feel sincerely sorry for you.

NBA is a joke… you can keep trying to spin it all you want about what’s fair, and not fair. Was it fair that Odom was traded for nothing? Was it coincidence that Billups is released, and signed by Clippers for the trade to go through? A blind man knows this is just an insult to the Lakers by trading him to the Clippers. Kama, Aminu, and Gordon are going to help you win a title in 5 years?

Thats another joke… they maybe young, but aren’t skillful enough. They won’t help you win a championship, and if you trying to sell a team wouldn’t you want the new owner to know he’s got a better chance of winning a title with a veteran team than a young team that is most likely won’t be there in years to come. If these guys were so good then how come Clippers been bottom of the NBA forever?

NBA is rigged, and owners have motives. It shouldn’t be no secret when over the last 2 years we have seen the truth. Owners cried about not getting Paul themselves so they didn’t want us Lakers getting him because if it was about big market then he wouldn’t of gone to the Clippers. Him going to the clippers was a sure way of insulting us Lakers at all of it. Stern is dirty, and The NBA where nobody cares anymore should be new slogan.

Dan Gilbert I know you aren’t reading this, but in some miracle you is, or have someone else reading this. Go jump in traffic, you’re a horrible owner. You can’t save air from a paper bag because of how moronic you’re. Your reason was because an owner, Jerry Buss wasn’t supposed to make trades to better help his team? An owner isn’t supposed to trade for a star player, or save money in the process. That would be too smart of what an owner supposed to do with his team. Dan Gilbert… your reason for this trade proves exactly why you are dumb in every sense of the meaning. You hate, and keep hating. Cavs will be the only team that’s will remain same spot for the next decade.

Is it just me, or did the commissioner once again, ramble on with out really answering why he intervened. All I got out of that interview is he stepped in because he wanted and he will definitely not hesitate to do it again in the future. smh. I mean he still sent Chris Paul to LA and they’re new roster kind of looks like the old Hornets roster, so this trade was dumb. If the commissioner was interested in the well being of keeping basketball in new orleans, and not make an already basketball finance power house (Los Angeles, Ca) even stronger, he then he would’ve kept Paul in a Hornets uniform. Now even more people will tune into LA channels, support LA teams, buy LA merchandise, smh. lol Everyone knows the we(Lakers) would be unstoppable again if CP3 was apart of the roster. while I think Odom leaving, was the dumbest trade we approved since Shaq; CP3 is all we’re missing. I say Lakers pick up baron davis and rotate him fisher and blake. beef. lol that could solve some of our problems at the 1 position.

So lets get one thing straight – as things are currently set up, the NBA simply cannot win, no matter what it does. By owning a team within a league that he controls, Stern is damned if he does, and damned if he don’t.
So to fix this he has to get NO sold asap, and to do that he needs to present a product that is attractive enough to would-be buyers to pay up immediately. Now nothing sells like potential, and that is where the 2nd deal is so much more of a winner. In a pure basketball sense, the 1st deal probably wins out (arguably. I’m a huge Gordon fan, he has potential to be best SG in league post-Kobe), but most owners dont look past the numbers and that is where the 2nd deal is a clear winner. With Gordon and Aminu still on rookie contracts, a draft pick to also run on rookie scale, and Kaman with his expiring contract this deal is so much cheaper than the 1st it is not even close.
Then you look at the potential of each deal. Odom, Scola and Martin (and possibly even Dragic) have all reached their ceiling and are certainly on the down slide of their careers. This is not to say that they wont contribute this season, but beyond?? Only Martin would still be expected to have a career year within the next 2 years. Now Gordon’s potential in extremely exciting, Aminu could very well turn into a solid SF, Kaman can be turned into an extremely exciting young player or draft picks (or both) via trade, and obviously the 1st round draft pick from TWolves which would likely be top 5 in a very good crop.
Just like in the lockout, Stern played hardball and got the result which he was after, which had a very good player in Gordon going to NO as opposed to 3 very solid players. Again, it all comes down to making the product as attractive as possible.
So here’s hoping that the NBA can sell NO franchise as early as possible to avoid having to make any additional decisions in the upcoming season, as it will only result in the conspiracy theorists to get back out of their closets, with the problem being…they may just be right.

LOL @ Pau Gasol not being a steal… It took the Grizzlies what? Like 4 years to reap the benefits of that trade and get into the playoffs… Whereas L.A. instantly went to the Finals 3 straight years and won 2 of them…

The point businessman is making is, with leaker trade Hornets would generate ticket sales which equate to fans buying food & beverage, merchandise as possible playoffs. With this Clipper trade you have talent nothing else. I live in DC and love basketball but won’ t waste a dime to go see Wizards talent, who wants to see a losing team.

You may want to pay a bit more attention to your hometown Wizards, as I would suspect that they will be pretty good with Wall in his 2nd year, Blatche and McGee giving you an above average set of bigs as well as plenty of wing players and whilst the wins may not be enough to reach the playoffs, Wizards will have plenty of highlights this year.

The first deal was garbage anyway. The rockets were getting the worst end of it, they were getting Pau Gasol and giving up Scolla and Martin. They would have been terrible this year. The Lakers on the other hand would have been making out like bandits, per the last 40 years of basketball history, and it would have been obtuse of David Stern to let that deal go through, owner of the Hornets or not. His job is to protect the league and he did just that, even at the cost of his own reputation.

This is exactly why I wish they had put more in place under the new cba to help small market teams. I’m a Celtics fan, but I know the NBA would be a lot more exciting if more than 5 or 6 teams had a chance to win every year.

The Laker deal would of happened if Jim Buss was not there. Its confirmed , alot of people dont like his arrogance,, Hes like a young Cuban type guy but with the Jerk in him. Ya saw what stern did to Dallas in 06′ . He stuck it to Buss in 2011.

@James you are totally correct and Stern cannot alter or block any trade from other teams just the Hornets. Besides the Clippers deal was a lot better for NO than the Lakers deal. The Lakers gave up Odom for basically nothing like Kobe said. They will be fine but when Odom comes to town he’s going to go ham on them. The Lakers will make the playoffs but they won’t go far in the playoffs. Dallas team is ok with the addition on Odom but JJ is gone and Tyson is in NY. Dallas is not as good as last year but they are strong enough to get back to the finals IMO. Good luck to LA with this current roster

I’m a Lakers fan. Do I think we were cheated out of Chris Paul? Yes. Do I care? No. I do think David Stern wants the Lakers to go down, because he wouldn’t have vetoed the trade if he didn’t. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter. Karma will see this entire thing through.

I see a lot of comments on the web on Tv and so forth on how lakers always get great deals and all the star players they want.
So i ask u this other then the Pau Gasol trade which by the way was not a steal who did the lakers get in the past 10 years(thats been a game changer) in a trade? NO ONE
And the Gasol trade was very fair.
Memphis was rebuilding at the time and they got Kwame Browns expiring contract which gave them enough room to sign Zack Randolph and they got a great center in Mark Gasol (arguably better then his brother Pau) maybe not yet but much younger.
So they traded Pau for their entire front court. Bad deal? Cmon! Memphis should thank the Lakers for that trade since they didnt even win 1 postseason game with Gasol.
And the proof is in the pudding they ended up on a nice run in the playoffs.
On the other hand Boston Got 2 all stars for almost nothing to form their big 3 (or 4)
Miami got 3 all stars last year.
Ny got their 2 all stars plus they are able to add Chandler?
Mavs got 6th man in Lamar Odom for nothing and thats not a steal?
On the Hornets having a better chance of selling the team with this trade instead of the Lakers/Rockets trade.
lets See If im buying a business that has product that sells now (which was the 1st deal) vs some hope that some young guys can put it together in the future?(existing deal)
Its a no brainer im going to buy the team that can win now and not buy it and hope it all works out later.
So lets see
old deal vs new deal
Kmart=Gordon pretty much same (gordon a bit younger) slite edge for Gordon
Scola=Kaman (Score is a much better player and is hardly injured kaman is always injured and same age) edge to Scola
Dragic=Aminu (both young and good prospects for the future although i think Dragic has shown more promise then Aminu) slight edge for Dragic
Odom=Draft pick? (Its sounds stupid a 6th man a veteran 2 time champ for someone we dont even know who? Could be the next Kwame Brown or Greg Oden…..) Def edge for Odom.
people forget that if Odom was starting on a team he would be a 20/10 guy for the next 3 years.
Stop the laker hating just becouse they win a lot.
This mentality is so stupid( i mean the mentality that all teams should be able to win a championship) its like saying why dont we break Lebrons legs so Mario Chalmers can win a game.
You cant break a heart of a champion! (but i know u will try)
Good luck David Sperm!

Okay Lakers have gotten one game changing player in a trade in the past ten years. How many have the Clippers seen in the past 30! Besides how many game changing players do you need if you have Kobe Bryant? Spoiled Laker brat just like Steve Aushburner says.

The Lakers totally got a steal for Gasol. And as for the Celtics, i qoute the ESPN.com article from 2007, “The Celtics, who have 16 championships but have gone without one for more than two decades, obtained the former MVP and 10-time All-Star (Kevin Garnett) on Tuesday in a 7-for-1 deal — the NBA’s biggest trade for one player.”

Okay so Laker’s got one player changing trade in the past ten years according to you. So how many have the Clippers received in the past 30! Plus the Lakers still have that game changing player and a young center and Kobe Bryant? What the hell more do you need? Oh right LA has to match whatever anyone else has. Fans like you are the reason Steve Aschburner says that LA fans are spoiled. Stop being ungrateful because you still have a playoff contending team.

Is it me or does the articles on this site seem a tad bit . . . slanted? I guess I can’t expect too much from the NBA sanctioned site but to say that “Laker fans are in a tizzy but that’s because they’re spoiled by so much going their way through the years” and that “the collateral benefit of pleasing many of the league’s owners and fans, who would have gagged on a “have” franchise adding the NBA’s best pure point guard within days of a costly labor dispute staged in part to avoid that very outcome” smells like league spin to me. I guess I’ll be getting my NBA news elsewhere.

Those people that hate the trade are probably Laker fans. It is a better deal. Getting now players that are long on the tooth means big egos on a bad team. That is a recipe for disaster. Businesses are built from a strong foundation. The potential owners will want something they can build on for years to come not something that is a flash in the pan for a year or two. Odom is a role player and is effective in that role. Gordon on the other hand has more upside than Odom. When healthy Kaman is far better than Scoli. The first round draft pick is the other plus. Definitely a better deal from a business stand point.

Stop apologizing for Stern, he screwed the lakers and the rockets with his meddling, now the leagues most popular team worldwide is just a middle of the pack team in the west thanks to Stern. The Rockets are very well followed as well internationally, I don’t know anyone who supports the clippers, the least the league (Stern) could do is gift some players to the lakers from the hornets, some guys that they could use and need.

You are right, the NBA did a horrible deed to the Lakers. In fact, anytime the Lakers make a stupid move, the League should block it to protect the Lakers. After all, the only team that brings in revenue is the Lakers.. The league should also censor the Lakers on their trades, so that if they mess up, and a deal falls through, their superstars won’t be hurt. (Its called Sarcasim, look it up) Since the Clippers are not known globally the league should block any trade that makes them a contender. Wait it just sounds like you are a Lakers fan, have despised the clippers for not being good, and are now angry that the lowely Clippers may just be better than the Lakers. Get over it, its a business, and the Lakers don’t control the operation.

lol….so Stern’s job is to make the life of the Lakers easier, right? Is to make sure that the succesfull teams remain succesfull for eternity? And any small-team franchise should have NO CHANCE of becoming a very good team? This is so laker fan thinking. I am so sick of it. First of all most of them have no clue about basketball, and you are confirming that when you are saying that the Lakers will be middle pack team just because they lost Odom: their biggest strenghts are Bryant and frontcourt lenght – provided by Gasol and Bynum; Odom is a loss, but not that of a loss.

Second, anyone with some basketball knowledge knows that when you trade a star, you are looking at the future of the franchise. The trade that was made is one for the future, and a pretty good trade it was. The one that was nixed was for the 7th or 8th seed for a season or two….and a bellow 0.500 the next two, with way bigger contracts and no flexibility.

Just think about it. They got an former all star center, a great prospect in Gordon, a good prospect in Aminu, a very high valued draft pick (which can give them another great prospect). You can also add their own draft pick to that mix, a draft pick as valuable as the one from Minesota (so…another great prospect), because W’s won’t pile up this season, that’s for sure.

They can rebuild alomst instantlly, geting their core together the next year after trading Paul. Now that is a light speed rebuilding procces if you ask me.

This may come as a shock to you, but the NBA’s job is not to just hand over the trophy to the lakers every year, just because people buy laker jerseys (and don’t know the position of the guy who’s name is writen on that jersey). Just grow up allready. Winning is not something to be taken for granted and you laker fans have been spoiled with way to much winning; that most of them don’t deserve.

This is the better deal going forward for the Hornets, smaller or expiring contracts with potential stars and a very juicy draft pick which could bag them the next all-star caliber rookie anyway. An owner would see a team with no huge salary commitments and are under the cap. Their only big issue is getting enough wins to become attractive again.

The ‘nixed’ deal was a good deal too, I know alot of people are still unhappy the Lakers couldn’t get CP3 but it was better for them it was nixed although they lost Odom (their own choice) they still have a beefy front court. If the trade had gone through they would have been rebound fodder and getting Howard was never a ‘cert’ and now they have a still competitive bunch although they’ve lost abit of quality depth.

The Rockets haven’t been duped into a one man scam where they were getting very little for what they were giving up, although I did suspect with Marc Gasol on the FA at the time they were gunning for a team Spain front court approach.

and the clip’s who realistically is’nt pumped to see CP3 and Griffin as a PG /PF combo they will be more exciting than Stat and Nash were a year or two ago for the highlight reels. overall it’s all win, win for the NBA

Man they are trying to sell us the “Clippers was the better deal to make and Hornets get the better deal off of it” slogan. Well we aren’t buying it guys, no way in the world. As the way I see it, it’s all marketing and protecting the face of the NBA and the so called prestigious Commissioner. Odom would had been a better deal to Hornets (gee, I wonder why Dallas was so happy to get him and not 3 …players from …the…Clippers??) Seriously Stern and NBA, if you think you can sell us this think again. This is totally a conspiracy…even idiots can see right through it.

I understand stern’s decisions from the business point of view but this decision hurts particurarly the lakers. They lost a great player and got nothing back for him. I dont think that the clipper trade was that much better to go through david’s filter. Nba keeps shooting itself on the foot with these stupid stunts.

sory man, but it’s not Sterns fault the Lakers just gave Odom for nothing. Was he unhappy with the situation (acting like a spoiled brat if you ask me)? Yes he was. So, if they wanted to trade a good player because he was unhappy for nothing, they could have done it with almost any team, because any team can offer….well…nothing. Why did they traded him to the team that knocked them off big time in the 2nd round and eventually became champion? I really don’t know, but it’s not Sterns fault for that.

And there is another thing not taken into consideration: cap space. From what i keep reading, they want Howard, they want Paul…now…next yea…whatever….for that they need cap space. I mean, we are talking about one of the best GMs in the league. I’m sure he has something planned and didn.t made this move just to get rid of an unhappy Odom. Even if a guy is unhappy, that doesn’t mean you can’t get a fair deal, true to his value, from another team.

The nba wants to sell the hornets. Being tied down to those extremely expensive and old rocket contracts WILL NOT get NO sold. However this trade helps get the hornets sold. Potential is the word here. Look at the Detroit situation and how that sale ended up. Detroit would not sign trade or mangle any new contracts until that sale was final. That of course partially led to the chaos of the Kuester era. Now the Pistons are sold and they are in rebuilding mode almost completely. I find the Prince resigning very odd for a rebuilding team however I guess the logic is probably that someone has to teach the young guns how to walk.

Its not about this year for the hornets…. Its about the future. This trade helps NO potentially get the top pick next year plus another lottery pick to go with it. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it turns into a haul like the Cavs got this year…. except in a way better draft. Hate to say it but the hornets are tanking on purpose so they can get better. It just might work with next year’s draft haul.

Who would you rather have, Scola, Odom, and Martin, or Kaman, Aminu, and Gordon? Personally I like Scola over Kaman, and Odom over Aminu, but prefer Gordon over Martin slightly. The first round draft pick with the clipper sis better than the first round draft pick they would get with the Lakers, because the Clips had Minnesota’s pick.Although I suspect Min will be better this year than last year, I’m certain they wont be better than the Lakers.

the deal is much better than offered by the rockets and the lakers. bunch of old guys that can never win a championship vs. a team with young talent, picks and cap to use to lure in the big names. this is a as good as it gets scenario. making a huge deal about it and canceling the deal at last minute was the ugly part.

what big name? If it is such a great place why is Paul leaving? Stern has become a joke. How much money did he and his refs make off of the Mavericks winning last year? Obviously it is all fixed. Billups just happen to fall to the Clippers, which made it easier for them to get rid of Gordon?

may not have big names, but who needs them? A solid team will sell far better than a crappy team with a primadonna superstar. Championships and playoff exposure make more money than any superstar. If you need an example, look at the Hornets during Paul, had to go into receivership due to the lack of attendance.

Billups was cut by the Knicks. He’s a veteran. Why wouldn’t he go to the clippers to join Blake Griffin? The current trade is not only better for the future, but I would argue better for the present, as Gordon is probably the best of all the possible players they could have gotten from the trade.

For me, as a businessman, It doesn’t make sense to suggest that I would prefer a “rebuilding” franchise to one equipped with “win now” players. Would I not rather purchase a business primed for success immediately than one that might (no guarantees) grow into a good one later? This seems especially true given that the NO team is going to cost someone that same $300-350m with the win-now or rebuilding roster, and also given that the NBA has both a salary cap AND floor so you the owner will be spending roughly the same amount of money year on year no matter what players you have in the team. On those terms, I think the Lakers-Rockets trade for CP3 beats the Clippers trade in terms of making the franchise saleable.

Really trading for three young solid players, and a no.1 pick isn’t a smart business move? The Hornets still wouldn’t be close to a championship ready team either way, Younger players is a better deal than older, seasoned injury prone players who eat a substantial amount of the salary cap..

So you are businessman. From the sound of it, you know more about the failure of your businesses than you do about their success. As a business man you would go out and buy a company that is on the tail end of success and heading down, rather than buy a company (with less operating costs) that is on the upswing? Personally I would rather buy a business before its prime, not when it is riddled with unecessary costs.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a “good trade” or not. Right now the owners and players should do something about the NBA keep owning the Hornets.

NBA, as the represent of all teams, owns one of the teams at the same time. This is ridiculous. There is interests conflict when NBA’s own book gets because they can not serve as the third party anymore.

NBA should freeze all basketball operation of Hornets until they find the next owner, or keep the ownership but leave the basketball operation to Dempse, or just contract the team.

It makes sense for us to talk about the trade only if it’s a unbiased one, not with NBA role playing in it. Remember what happened to the previous trade? 3 teams reached agreement and about to sent the proposal to the league office. Then Stern jumped out and cancelled the trade as a “owner”. Cuz he knew that when the proposal is in the league office, then there is no way he can do anything about it. This was so unprofessional and disgusting.

Well, I read the article top to bottom. Sounds like the NBA Hangtime blog is now an apology for the Commissioner. I for one think he stuck his nose where it didn’t belong, but I am happy for the Clippers that they now have Chris Paul AND Blake Griffin. So certainly the League is serious about spreading the talent wealth and suddenly the Clippers are a descent franchise. Not bad there. AS for Chris wanting to go the Lakers and meet up with Kobe and perhaps Superman. That was a bad deal for the Rockets. So I don’t know why the Rockets would even agree to it since it virtually ensured a Laker/Heat final for the next four years. But whatever, just goes to show a lot of the owners are morons and that’s why the players had to give back 3 billion dollars, so that those morons can make money despite themselves. Actually I’m a Celtic fan so I was glad the Lakers didn’t get their Christmas wish, and they shored up the Dallas Mavricks for no good reason. Lol! I don’t know why they did that deal for Odom. Strange! He must have really been pissed off at the Lakers and wanted out after that first deal didn’t go through. Hahaha! I hope the Lakers grovel in obscurity for a decade now that this deal has gone through. And let’s see what happens with Superman. I hope he come to Boston, but probably he won’t unless Celtic trade everything for him. haha. So who knows where he goes. Just don’t let it be LA now.

Lakers fans don’t understand. Lemme explain to you. New Orleans is owned by NBA, they brought it from the previous owner George Shinn. Now, Stern, as an NBA Commissioner, has the power to control the Hornets franchise, because NBA owns it. He said he wanted the best deal for Paul and he thinks the Clippers package is the best one, better than the Lakers deal. He has no business on all other team’s trade stuff. He can’t block or alter it. Like that Lakers to Dallas deal, wtf can he do if that’s what the Lakers want. Lakers has their own team owner. He’s doing this because he wanted New Orleans, which is owned by NBA, to be attractive to the potential buyers of the New Orleans franchise. Get it?! I wonder maybe most of the Lakers fans are dumb.

A better deal than before? I tend to disagree. This just makes it look like Stern settled because Kupchak was stupid enough to trade Odom to Dallas for basically nothing and they couldn’t go back to the Lakers trade deal.

goosebumps seriously?
that new Dallas roster is actually a couple blocks weaker compared to their championship roster with Chandler… you seem to forget that Carter is already in a supernova state… they’re more like war veterans now IMO…